Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

22 reviews

bitterseason's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Kidnapping, Body horror, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Rape, Slavery, Abandonment, and Antisemitism

mari_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Wow this book is actually like a movie in your mind. Capturing so much history, emotion and action in such short pages. I think it takes a little bit to drop into their world, because of all the magic and history some of the nuances were probably lost on me but I would love to see this book as a film - it’s so vivid and muli-layered. Really strong characters, this book easily could have been made into three 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Kidnapping, and Racial slurs

entityj's review

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery

Minor: Kidnapping, Vomit, Torture, Slavery, and Sexual content

kayladaila's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Death, Racism, Hate crime, Body horror, and Medical content

Moderate: Medical content, Racial slurs, Violence, War, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Kidnapping, Sexual content, Slavery, Genocide, Colonisation, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Trafficking

orireading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I never thought I would enjoy a horror story so much but this really was incredible. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Death, Racial slurs, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Violence, Racism, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Grief, Cannibalism, Body horror, and Blood

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

'Ring Shout' by  P. Djeli Clark mixes fantasy, horror, and the monstrosity of racism in 1900s America to create an engaging story that feels much more expansive than its novella length. 
Maryse Boudreaux hunts Ku Kluxes, monsters that parade as members of the Ku Klux Klan. With her friends and a group of resistance fighters, she is determined to wipe out these creatures. When they learn about a showing of Birth of a Nation that will call a new demon into their lands, Maryse and her friends cook up a plan to take out the group once and for all. 
P. Djeli Clark continues to be one of my favorite novella writers. His ability to create such an expansive, evocative world in such a short amount of words is truly unparalleled. Each of his stories are unique from one another and yet they all suck you in and spin a full fledged narrative even with few words. This is true for 'Ring Shout' as well. 
Through flashbacks and more fantastical experiences, Clark fleshes out Maryse as a character. We come to know and understand her strengths and her weaknesses as she is directly dealing with them. One of the strengths of this story is the balance between the true to life horrors of America during the early 1900s with the fantastical elements that Clark uses to elevate this horror. The mix of folklore, body horror, and badass fight scenes create a story that is fast paced but also full and complete. The ending leaves itself open for a sequel that I hope Clark will write. His worldbuilding shows that there is even more to this world that we could explore. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Blood, Hate crime, Medical trauma, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Kidnapping

e_lace's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I wish ending the kkk was this simple 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Slavery and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape

ferrumage's review

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Slavery, Kidnapping, Hate crime, and Gun violence

Minor: Antisemitism

Black female monster hunters during Prohibition. The monsters are supernatural monsters that take over or impersonate Klan members [the implication being that there's not a /whole/ lot of difference there]. Some religious or folk-religious stuff. The antisemitism is because there's a character who is Jewish who is definitely on the side of our hero(ine)s, and the racial status of Eastern European Jews is briefly mentioned (in the context of being complicated).

merle98's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The first horror I've read in years and the best book I have read in a while! Featuring magic swords, monster hunters and demons infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan, this story is fantastical and terrifying - and yet so full of truth.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Violence

shomla_msawesomesaucey's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, and Kidnapping